Storms & Second Chances
by ckincaid
Summary: A freak snow storm hits LA trapping David and Maddie at the office.  What happens when two people who obviously love each are forced to face that fact?  This is an alternate universe piece where Annie never came to town...we've all wanted that.
1. Friday Afternoon

**Storms & Second Chances**

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Author's Note: This is fiction and I do not claim ownership of these characters. First, I must clarify that this is an "alternate universe" piece. It takes place within the story lines of the series, but I conveniently leave out various details; the biggest being the Annie storyline (honestly, who hasn't wanted to do that?!). It also takes place outside of the stories I've written. There were so many issues I'd wanted to bring up through my stories, but hadn't figured out how yet. Plus I'd been dying to write something where David and Maddie are thrown together and forced to deal with their problems. I left the placement in the timeline loose, but it takes place several months after Maddie loses the baby. I also realize a blizzard in LA is far fetching, but I felt it was perfect. The perfect sign: this is your second chance - use it! Thanks for reading and enjoy!

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**Friday Afternoon**

It was nearly a typical day for the Blue Moon office. Despite it being the holiday season and the office adorned with Santas and snowmen, everyone seemed to be in a glum mood. One of the biggest cases the office had had in a while had ceased business with them which had sent David and Maddie into a screaming match and ended with slamming doors. One would think this would be too typical to concern the drones, but something was different this time.

David and Maddie had experienced some monumental moments in the previous few months and even the employees were noticing a difference between their bosses. Even as Maddie had yelled, "Don't slam that door on me," it wasn't so much what she said but how she said it. It was filled with hurt more than simply being annoyed with her business partner. After the last door slam, David had grabbed his jacket and left the office without a word to anyone. Maddie hadn't entered the outer office since.

In Maddie's office, she hadn't taken her eyes off her window for the last twenty minutes. She couldn't get her mind to shut down as thoughts and images swirled around her without warning. David's words echoed in her head and the sound of the door slamming continued to jar her. She cringed at the memory and sighed. Lately, it seemed, they were at each other's throats. "Why," she asked herself. She knew things weren't the same between them anymore. Although, she had thought things were progressing somewhere, she was no longer sure. Just as sure as she was about exactly where that progression had been going.

Just as she was about to plop her head into her hands, she saw something flutter outside the window. She looked up and saw white flakes falling from the sky. "Snow?! In LA?!"

She immediately ran from her office out into the outer office where everyone was gathered around the window watching the peculiar weather. "Is this some kind of joke," MacGillicuddy asked.

"I'm really sure, Moron."

"Who's the moron?"

"Miss Hayes," Agnes asked at the confused look on Maddie's face and also anxious to stop the argument. Everyone turned to see Maddie staring out the window at the near flurry outside.

"Where's Mr. Addison?"

"Don't know. He just left."

To suppress her growing worry about David being out in a freak snow storm, she rushed to her office to turn on her TV. Every local station was reporting on this storm which was causing near panic across Southern California. Scenes flashed from all across California of people in feet of snow, cars covered, children playing, people shoveling. Meanwhile, all she could think of was where David had gone.

She listened as the weatherman stood in front of the large map of California showing the direction of the storm. The good news seemed to be that it wouldn't last long. The negative was that it was Southern California where most people just don't deal well with real weather. Maddie had grown up in Chicago and snow was as common there as smog was to LA, so it was like second nature to her. The weatherman was now back at the news desk and advising people to stay off the roads. The weather would loom for the weekend and probably melt as fast as it had come.

Suddenly, Maddie turned not having taken her eyes from the TV and began to call, "Miss DiP…" when she noticed the entire staff was huddled around her desk also watching the news report intently. "I think it's a good idea if we call it an early weekend. And don't take any risks going home."

Everyone seemed pleased with the news. Agnes replied, "Are you sure, Miss Hayes?" Everyone immediately gave Agnes a glare as if she'd just reminded the teacher that she'd forgotten to give them homework.

"I don't want to keep you here if it's unsafe."

Without another word, everyone left the office before she could change her mind. Soon the office was empty all except for Maddie who continued to stare out the window…and Agnes who was gathering up her things. Agnes stopped in Maddie's doorway and said, "Miss Hayes, aren't you leaving too?"

"I think I'm going to stay here. You know…," Maddie searched for a convenient lie, but couldn't come up with one.

"I'm sure he's fine," Agnes reassured. Both women were silent for a moment and then Agnes continued, "Do you want me to call him?"

"I already dried. No one answered."

"He's probably…," Agnes began.

"You'd better go, Agnes, before it gets really bad out there."

The woman smiled at her boss and said, "Okay," but before she left she asked, "Are you going to be okay? How will you get home?"

"I grew up in Chicago. I've driven in worse weather than this. I'll be fine."

Contented with the answer, Agnes said, "Goodnight, Miss Hayes."

"Goodnight, Miss DiPesto," and Maddie turned back to the TV. When she heard the door to the outer office close, she turned her gaze to the window. _Where IS he?!_

David was drudging down the Los Angeles sidewalk hugging his meager suit jacket to keep warm. He truly believed the world was coming to an end as he kicked a large chunk of snow from the sidewalk. Looking around at the deserted sidewalks and streets, it sure looked as if it was. People too terrified to drive had simply abandoned their cars and headed for the nearest shelter.

After leaving the office, he'd started walking going nowhere in particular and fuming at he and Maddie's argument. After a block, he'd turned toward the parking garage where he'd taken the BMW and started driving. He ended up at a usual hotspot when he was down on his luck, which was quite a lot lately, The Red Bull. He had ordered a drink, sat at the bar and had barely gotten halfway through his shot of tequila when someone called, "Look at that!" When he saw the white flakes of snow falling outside, he'd swallowed hard and the liquor burned as it went down.

It hadn't taken long before there was a full-blown snow storm. He had laughed and said, "I was only kidding when I called her the Ice Queen." When the bar owner ordered everyone to leave so he could batten down his own hatches, David returned to the car. It had been so long since he'd seen snow, he'd forgotten how he hated driving in it. Not only was he a horrible driver in general, but with snow in the mix, he was downright dangerous. As he took a turn, the car had skidded and hit a parking meter leaving a large and noticeable dent in the front fender. "Maybe she won't notice," he said looking it over.

In the end, he'd left the car and decided to walk the rest of the way. He hadn't exactly made it out of the city, so the only other place to go was back to the office. At the rate things were going, everyone was probably gone and he could camp out on his couch for the night.

When he finally made it to the building, the maintenance workers were just locking up. David entered the building and quickly shook the snow from his jacket and looked down at himself. He was soaking wet and freezing. "I hope I have some clothes in my office," he said to no one as he headed toward the elevator.

He reached the 20th floor and stepped into deserted silence. When he found the office door unlocked, he became alarmed. Slowly he opened the door and peered in, but saw no movement. The office was dark…except for a flickering blue light. David entered the office and walked around Agnes' desk to see it coming from Maddie's office.

As he crept closer to her door, he could see her sitting behind her desk watching news coverage of the storm. When he stood in her doorway, he said, "Maddie?"

She jumped at the sound of his voice and nearly fell out of her chair. "David," she exclaimed; her emotions betraying her cool façade.

"What are you doing here? Do you know what's going on out there?"

Maddie quickly stood and before David could speak another word, she ran to him and threw her arms around him. He gently wrapped his arms around her waist and suddenly forgot that he was soaked from the snow. It had been so long since they'd been so close and he savored everything. Her hair was just as soft as he remembered and he closed his eyes to take in the familiar scent of lavender.

All too soon, the moment ended and Maddie pulled away from him. "I was so…," she began, but stopped herself. "David, you're shivering.". He hadn't realized it, but he was. "You're soaked."

"Kind of got stuck," he replied.

"Do you have a change of clothes here?"

"Don't really know," he replied.

"You're hopeless," she replied walking over to her bathroom.

A moment later, she returned with a towel and handed it to him. He had taken his jacket off and was placing it on the coat rack by the door. He took the towel and started brushing the quickly melting snowflakes from his shoulders and hair. Once he was satisfied that his hair was relatively dry, he draped the towel around his shoulders and started to unbutton his dress shirt which was soaked through. He'd only gotten as far as taking off his tie when he looked over at Maddie who was just watching the flakes cascade from the sky. He took note of how beautiful she looked with only the glow of the TV and the muted light from the window. It was a mystery to him how he could still be in love with her after the screaming matches they'd had and all they had been through. And still beyond all that, he wanted nothing more than to take her into his arms and press his lips to hers.

Quickly, he shook the image out of his head. _Out of the question,_ he told himself. Then he looked down at his shirt and then back to Maddie. He couldn't change here. "I'll be in my office," he said to her. "How are you getting home?"

"I'm not going home," she answered. She answered his questioning glance with, "It's really too bad out there to go anywhere. I'm going to sleep here tonight."

David let a smile tug at one corner of his mouth and said, "Kind of like that first night, huh?"

Maddie allowed a chuckle. "Except no one is trying to kill us."

David also chuckled and looked at Maddie for a moment. "I'll be in my office," and reluctantly, he left.

When he was behind the closed doors of his office, his mind began to reel. They would be alone in the office all night long. He wasn't sure he trusted himself alone with her even if they were in separate rooms. To repress his thoughts, he started poking through drawers and cabinets looking for anything that he might have hidden in an emergency. He laughed at that thought. That would require planning and he never planned anything. The thought occurred to him that Maddie probably had a spare outfit somewhere in her office and if he thought he could pull off the look, he'd ask to borrow whatever outfit in whatever shade of pink it was. If he were alone, he wouldn't have worried about what to wear at all. He usually traipsed through his apartment in his underwear or nothing at all…but, here with Maddie…well, that just wouldn't work. No matter their history.

Just then he ran across a duffle bag in a cabinet close to the coat rack. Inside was a pair of gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt. Suddenly he remembered leaving it there in those days he'd started going to the gym after work. After he and Maddie's relationship had blown up, he'd given up going. That time with her had given him more energy and drive than he'd ever felt before. To be with her every night in whatever capacity and be able to tell her he loved her had given him more happiness than anything else ever had. When she had left for Chicago, all of his happiness had been smashed to pieces.

He resolved to shove the memories away. Quickly he grabbed the clean, dry clothes and headed to the bathroom.

After changing, he draped his wet clothes on the towel rod resolving to take them to the dry cleaners with his next batch of clothes. He entered his office again and suddenly realized he hadn't had dinner - just that half a shot of tequila at the bar. Food was one thing he knew he had around.

He went to his fridge first and rummaged around for something edible that wasn't out of date. He came out with two cartons of chocolate milk and a half a canister of orange juice. Then he remembered Maddie and wondered if she'd eaten anything…probably not. Looking at what he had come up with, he knew he had to do better than that.

Grabbing the juice and chocolate milk, he entered the outer office and found Maddie's office door still ajar. The TV was down low and he didn't see any movement from inside. He set the two items on Agnes' desk and walked to the small fridge by the coffee machine.

As he rummaged through an assortment of what could be described in some cases as 8th grade science projects, he heard, "You found something."

David turned to Maddie while holding a bowl of something he couldn't identify. She had also changed and was dressed in a white pair of pants and a white top. Seeing her dressed all in white, he thought she looked like an angel.

"We should really tell them to clean this out once in a while," David said changing the subject.

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for some dinner."

"Well, you won't find it in there. Come on." Maddie turned toward her office and David watched her a moment before he followed.

Upon entering her office, he saw she had Chinese take out containers littering her desk. "Where did you get this?"

"I ordered before you came. I figured I'd be here a while. There's plenty."

"I mean, who's delivering in this weather?"

Maddie took a look out the window at the storm that hadn't let up and said, "It's from that place on the corner. I called hoping someone would answer. I got lucky." David hadn't moved from the doorway and noticing this, she said, "Come on. Help yourself."

He walked over to her desk and took a seat in one of the guest chairs. For a moment, he just watched Maddie as she walked behind her desk and took a seat. He continued to watch as she took a paper plate and began to dish out a sizeable helping of kung pow chicken. That's when he noticed the plate that sat in front of him and he began tentatively peaking into the various cartons and dishing out a helping of each. And for several long minutes, they sat in silence as the TV continued to flicker from the corner of the room.

David's gaze alternated from his plate to the TV to her not wanting it to seem as though he was staring. Not wanting her to get the wrong idea. He just couldn't believe he'd never noticed it before. Sure he thought she was the most gorgeous woman he'd ever set eyes on, he'd told her so once, but as she sat unmade up in the waning light, she was so classically beautiful. Sure there were signs of age, signs he had too, but, as he saw it, they added to her beauty. He knew if he told her that, she'd shove it off and say something like, "You want a shovel, Addison?" But, dammit, he meant it. How could he ever get her to listen to him?

As Maddie took a bite of her egg roll, she looked over at him. He'd been staring at her. She'd sensed it since they'd sat down, but she wasn't going to draw attention to it. _He's probably just waiting for me to explode at him after this afternoon,_ she reasoned. It was now her turn to watch him as he began to pick at his food.

He had grabbed up a set of chopsticks, but had abandoned them for a fork. _He's nervous,_ she thought. And the fact that she could tell he was nervous, made her uneasy. She knew him too well. She knew his mannerisms and quirks. The fact that she'd caught his hands shaking as he'd tried to work the chopsticks had sent her gaze in another direction.

If only she could be as oblivious as he was pretending to be. If only…if only…if only she didn't still love him.

It would be a lot easier to hate him. She'd tried. Like today, after their argument, she'd tried to reason with herself that she could learn to despise him, but her mind wouldn't go there. Her mind couldn't because her heart couldn't. Without even realizing it, he'd entered that restricted area she thought she'd blocked off from everyone except her family. She'd never truly given herself to a man and now she had. Not even Sam had entered that part of her she staved off. And now that David had entered, she couldn't get him to leave. Even if he left on his own, he would still be there. The lingering shadow of him.

She stole another look across her desk. He was watching out one of the side windows at the snow. How was she going to get through this night? They hadn't been completely alone since that month they'd been…what…lovers? She shook off the image in her head. That image of him, her, candlelight, wine…rumpled sheets.

Suddenly he looked back across the desk at her and she felt the blood drain from her face. She recovered, but not quickly enough for her. "So," he said apparently in an attempt to break the silence.

"So."

"When's the last time you saw weather like this?"

Maddie looked over her shoulder and out the window. "Chicago," she answered. That one word set a new degree of tension in the air. Chicago. Too much of a reminder of those months she'd run away from him. She'd hidden herself and their child. The child she lost. There was too much regret. More than she thought she could handle right now, so she decided talking might chase it away for now. "A couple of Christmases ago we got four feet. It's funny, but there, this would be nothing."

"Same in Philly," he answered. "I used to skateboard to school in stuff like this."

Maddie looked back at him with amusement in her eyes. "Skateboard?" He'd let out a small piece of himself he probably hadn't intended.

He chuckled and then looked down nervously into his food. "Yeah. Skateboarding, roller skating, bike riding…whatever to get around."

"And did you do this in high school too," she asked just having to know what he had been like back then. Back in that boys Catholic school. Back when he knew Tess. Back when things were probably a lot simpler for him.

"That's how I hurt my arm," he said simply.

Maddie had noticed the scar, how could she not, but she'd never asked about it. After all, he'd never offered up the information. "What happened?"

"After school one day my friends and I hung out in the school parking lot. Not my idea. I'd have rather been a hundred miles from school. Anyway, my friends were egging me on to try some ridiculously stupid stunt. Couldn't turn down a challenge. Tried to jump the curb and ended up flying through the air one minute and slamming into the pavement the next. I actually blacked out at one point and when I came to, my friends were all standing over me. Luckily we were at the school where someone called an ambulance. Turned out I really messed up my shoulder."

Maddie took in all this information. David wasn't always so eager to offer up memories of his past, so she just sat back and let him talk. She began to wonder where she was during this time in his life. "How old were you?"

"Fifteen."

_I was in Paris by then,_ she thought.

David seemed to be on a roll and didn't want to stop. He continued, "My arm was in a cast for months. Even if I'd been able to skateboard, I couldn't have. Dad took it away. Said I wasn't trustworthy," and he looked at Maddie for the first time since he started this jaunt down memory lane. He gave her a not too convincing smile and then looked back at his dinner.

Suddenly, she realized how little she really knew about David. Sure, she knew his mannerisms, his strengths and weaknesses, but she knew very little about his life before she entered it. "Did you have a car," she asked as casually as she could. "I mean, the following year you drove, right?"

"No, didn't have a car." He looked over at her and then down at his food saying, "Worked for my dad driving a delivery truck. It was a horrible job all except for being able to drive. That's the only reason I got my license." He looked up at her again and noticed her sympathetic look. "So, what about you, Blondie?"

The nickname brought her up short. He hadn't called her that since…well…the last time they were together. "What about me?"

"Did you have wheels?"

She thought back to the cute little blue sports car her father had given her for her sixteenth birthday and realized she didn't want to go there. She and David were from two different worlds, but if they were "wrong," why did it feel so right to be with him. And not just in bed, but here, like this, talking and eating a meal. In that month, they had done very little of this. They'd had dinner together, shared a bottle of wine, and seen a movie or two, but it had been mostly physical despite their feelings for each other. That had been her insistence. Nothing in public. _Why did I do that?!_

"My life was pretty boring," she concluded.

"I doubt that."

She looked up to see his smile and said, "Really. It may have seemed glamorous, but it wasn't."

"No all night parties and hob-nobbing with the famous?"

Maddie laughed. "Hardly. With my father?"

David watched her intently imagining a teenaged Maddie being ushered around by her parents and only allowing so much exposure of their only daughter. "But you must have seen a lot."

Maddie continued to look at her hardly touched dinner. "I traveled a lot, yeah, but my mother was never far behind. My father insisted on a chaperone. He never let me get a big head. Whenever he saw me acting like a brat, he'd put me in my place. I used to hate him for it. Told him so on more than one occasion. Told my mother things I wish I could take back. Now I'm grateful for it."

The room was silent as both pondered their own thoughts. "Did anything change when you got 'Blue Moon?'"

"Only that it got me my two years of college."

"Do you ever wish you hadn't done it?"

His question caught her up short almost as the nickname had. "I don't know. Sometimes I wish people didn't define me as the 'Blue Moon Girl.' Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to have entered into some profession right out of college. Lawyer, journalist, teacher, something else. Sometimes I wonder if my life would have been any different." _Sure it would have been different. I wouldn't have met David._ "What about you?"

"I don't think about it," he said taking a mouthful of mixed vegetables. After he swallowed, he added, "The past is my past. What can I do about it? Sure I've made mistakes. I try to make peace with them and move on because what else can you do?"

David's statement seemed so out of character for the party animal she had seen. Then again, he never did dwell on anything. Had he ever brought up their past? Her answer: Never. Only when they became heated did David bring up Sam or Walter or anything having to do with their relationship or lack there of. In the same way he never brought up anything about his childhood. Was that just as off limits? Too much pain, missed opportunities, mistakes? Then again, there was a lot she'd never shared with him, so she was just as guilty.

She bowed her head at the idea. For so long she'd blamed him for so much. Now she could see the truth. Maybe he had done that some in the beginning, but she had done the same. In running off to Chicago and distancing herself from him after losing the baby, she'd put an even bigger barrier between them. Not only the miles between them, but a lack of communication. Those miles from LA to Chicago had haunted her. In those days she spent hiding in her parents' home (and, yes, she realized she had gone to hide), those miles terrified her. Would he show up one day on the doorstep? Would he not come at all? What she hadn't expected was exactly what he had done - gotten to her without crossing her lines. He hadn't shown up, hadn't called. He'd sent packages, written letters…and in that, shown he cared.

"You're quiet," David said jarring her from her thoughts.

"Sorry," she said quietly still looking at the food in front of her. How she wanted to tell him…well, everything. How much she loved him then, back during that month, but she was too afraid to admit it. Too afraid to admit that she could feel that kind of emotion. She wanted to tell him now how much she still loved him. How she sometimes woke up in the night from a dream where he was with her and expected to find him with her. And then would cry when he wasn't. Did he feel the same for her? _Does he still love me?_ How could he? After the way she'd treated him, it was any wonder he was still around. Which made her think. Why was he still around?

"Whatcha thinking?"

"I hope everyone made it home safely," she said hoping her voice didn't shake when she spoke.

"I'm sure they did. And I bet anything Agnes called everyone to make sure."

Maddie looked up to find him with a comforting smile. "You're probably right."

"No question. She'd done it before," he said stabbing his fork into a large sprout of broccoli, but making no attempt to eat it.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, before you came, we had a horrible earthquake." He looked up at Maddie for a moment and then back down at his plate. "Nothing new, right," he chuckled. "Anyway, we had a really bad tremor. The whole building shook. Everyone was really shaken up, so I sent everyone home. Agnes called everyone and wouldn't rest until every last person was accounted for. It's just the way she is. Wants to take care of everyone."

"She's the mother hen," Maddie said in thought.

David smiled and replied, "So, what does that make us? The chicks?" Maddie was oblivious to David and didn't even try to stave off his inevitable comment on who the real "chick" was. David noticed and said, "You okay?"

"She wants to take care of everybody. Even her bosses." She thought and said absently, "Even me."

"What does that mean?"

All she could think about at that moment was running off and leaving the people she saw daily in the lurch. She'd learned from her lawyer and the employees later that the business had barely stayed open while she was away and as much as she'd wanted to blame David, she knew she couldn't. She blamed herself. And now Agnes was taking care of her when she'd had little or no regard for her, the other employees or David. It made her feel like a heartless person and she knew that was the furthest thing from the truth - she adored these people. She'd do anything for them and she knew that was why she had tried so hard to gain back their trust when she returned. As much as she worried that her employees would never trust her again, it was David she really worried about. Would he ever look at her in that loving, adoring way he once had?

She had been so lost in thought, she'd forgotten about him and she turned to his questioning expression. "Nothing," she said not too convincingly.

"Well," David said realizing dinner was over. "I think I'm going to get some shut eye."

Maddie looked at the clock on her desk. "At 8:15?"

"Well, it was a long day." Both avoided each other as they recalled the events of the day.

"Maybe I will too. It was a long day," and she rose as he did. She began to gather up the remains of dinner and David tried to help. "I've got it," she said with a smile.

"Are you sure," he asked watching her tidy up.

"I'm just going to stick the rest of this in the fridge. If you get hungry later…well, you know where it is."

David inched toward the door as if he were unsure if he should really leave. "Well, I'll be in my office if you need anything."

"Sure," she said with a half-hearted smile.

With that, he left. He left her standing there with the carton of steamed rice in her hand. When he was out of range, she dropped the box onto her desk, dropped into her chair and plopped her head into her hands. How she wanted…what did she want? She wanted everything she had once had with him. She didn't want memories. She wanted reality.

She grabbed the containers and threw them in the fridge. "So much for trying to get his attention," she said shutting the fridge door.

When David entered his office, he slumped onto the leather sofa and laid a hand against his head. He hadn't wanted to leave, but she had seemed so eager to not have him there. All through their very tense meal, she'd been so quiet. So unwilling to share anything with him. Why?

Reconsidering his thoughts, he realized he'd been just as stand-offish at one time. He'd been so scared of getting hurt or extending himself to anyone. Even Maddie. A woman he wanted to know inside and out. Never had he graced the halls of a concert hall to attend the symphony for a woman…and in a monkey suit no less. She was the first…and only as far as he was concerned.

They had shared so much it almost seemed like a liability to lose each other. Not only did she know things no one else knew, but they were things he had wanted her to know. He had never planned to tell her about Tess, but then when she showed up in New York, he knew it was the right thing. Jillian had been a whole different situation. He had never wanted to hear her name again, yet Maddie was with him through the whole ordeal. He wouldn't have wanted anyone else.

David stretched out on his couch and positioned a pillow under his head. He thought about Maddie on the other side of the office and wondered what she was doing. Was she trying to analyze their tense dinner conversation? Was she wondering what he was thinking? Did she still love him the way he loved her?

He groaned and turned on his side. Although he shifted to get comfortable, he was sure he'd never find sleep that night. Not with Maddie two doorways away. Instead he turned his gaze to the still falling snow from outside his window.

This was going to be a long night.


	2. Later That Night

**Later That Night**

Sometime in the night, after David had finally dozed off to sleep, he was startled awake. He wasn't sure by what at first until he heard something and sat straight up. He remembered that sound - Maddie. Without a second thought, he ran from the room and right into her office.

He found her just as he'd expected - in the middle of a nightmare. She was lying on her couch with her coat draped over her. As she thrashed, she called to him and his heart leapt in his chest.

Carefully, he shook her. "Maddie, wake up."

"David," she cried.

"You're dreaming, Maddie. Wake up."

Her eyes fluttered open and her crying stopped. For a moment, she just laid there cradled in David's arms and staring up at him.

"You okay?"

She nodded seeming dazed.

"You were screaming," he said looking down at her trembling hands. "Maddie."

She looked into his eyes and she said, "I was so scared."

Without hesitation, David drew her into his arms and she began to cry. He didn't let go of her and wouldn't until she told him to. Feeling her so close to him was like the gates of heaven had opened. Nothing had ever felt so good to him. "What happened," he asked quietly.

She didn't answer him. Instead she said, "Don't let go."

"I won't," and he held her tighter. He ran his hand over her hair and savored the silky feeling of it against his skin.

He was too busy taking advantage of this moment to care how long they stayed in the embrace. Not until his knees began to ache. "Maddie, I…"

"Stay with me," she said in such a whisper he wasn't sure he'd heard her right. "Please, just hold me."

He didn't hesitate as he took a seat on the couch and pulled her to him. She leaned her head against his chest and let out a sigh. "Want to talk about it?" She shook her head. "It might help."

"I can't," she said letting a few more tears fall down her cheek.

David resolved to let the issue go and just be her shoulder to cry on if that's what she needed. So for several minutes, the two sat in silence in Maddie's darkened office. David began to run his fingers through her hair and she loved the feeling of his protective arms so much, she wished the snow would keep on falling. Because as soon as it all melted, they'd have to return to their regular lives and what would that mean for them?

As she lay against his chest, she listened to the beating of his heart. She could hear it pounding and knew he was just as nervous as she was, but perhaps for a different reason. Did he still love her?

The thought terrified her, but she knew she couldn't expect anything more from him until she gave something of herself. As she laid there in the silence, she decided it was what she had to do.

"I've been having this recurring dream," she began. David stopped running his fingers through her hair and looked down at her. He didn't want to stop her if she was ready to talk, so he didn't speak, move or even breathe. "It usually doesn't make sense. Sometimes I'm here. Sometimes I'm at home. And then other times I'm somewhere like at the grocery store or the mall. I'm going about my day when I hear a crying that I can't find. No matter what I do I can't find it." When David didn't reply, she looked up at him. "What do you think that means?"

Psychologically he didn't know what that meant, but he knew it was about the baby. Grief maybe? "I don't know, but you don't have to worry. You're not alone."

Maddie wanted to cry, but she stayed strong. Instead she stretched out onto the couch and hoped David would follow suit. He didn't. He just kept a hold on her to let her know he was still there. She snuggled close to him savoring the smell of his aftershave that still lingered despite his five o'clock shadow. The smell of fabric softener could still be detected on the cotton shirt he wore and she wondered if he did his own laundry or if he sent everything to the cleaners along with his suits.

She hadn't realized it, but she'd been smiling. "What's on your mind, Blondie," David asked catching the smile.

"Nothing."

"That doesn't look like nothing," he said with a hint of smile.

"Just thinking," she said with a hint of a smile.

"About what," he asked and she knew he wasn't going to let up until she told him something. She certainly couldn't tell him what she had been thinking…about him lying in her bed, his aftershave on her sheets, in the early morning, asleep…no, she couldn't tell him that. What could she say instead? She quickly searched for something.

"I was thinking about what you said earlier."

"Which part?"

"The skateboard part," she said with a smile. "I can't quite imagine it."

He grinned and replied, "Different time."

"Did you have the whole look too," she asked teasingly.

He played along, "Yep. I had an earring, spiky hair, the clothes, the whole deal. My father called me a hoodlum," and he chuckled.

"And did you look like this when you drove the delivery truck?"

"No, he made me change. He let me keep the earring as long as it wasn't obvious. I had these tacky blue coveralls as a uniform, so the only thing I had to do was cut my hair."

Maddie tried to imagine him with long hair just as the kids in her school had worn theirs. She just couldn't picture it and she let out a laugh. "Sorry, can't picture that either." He gave her a look of confusion and she answered, "You with long hair."

He gave a cocky grin and said, "I can picture you."

This stopped her dead and she asked, "What do you mean?"

"I bet I can guess what you were like."

"Really?"

"Yep. I bet you wore your hair long, wore the trendy clothes, hung out with the popular kids…cheerleader?"

"Well, you're part right," she answered looking down at his chest.

"Okay, tell me."

She didn't really want to, but she knew she had to tell him something. "Well, appearance-wise just about right. I let my hair grow long my freshman year. Because of my modeling, I got a lot of free clothes, so I was 'in fashion' for every season. Everything else you couldn't have been further than the truth." She paused and then continued, "I wasn't popular. I wasn't a cheerleader. I wasn't even Homecoming Queen."

"Why not?"

"The kids thought I was a snob. And those who did try and be my friend were only in it for themselves…clothes, parties, celebrities…none of which I had access too." David didn't reply to this, so she continued, "I mean I had a small group of friends. Mostly people I'd known since grade school. Some even kindergarten."

"Do you know them now?"

"No, not anymore. We all drifted apart."

David wanted to ask about Sam, but he didn't dare. He didn't want to spoil the moment and things were going so well. He'd even pulled himself up onto the couch next to her and now he was holding her against him.

"What about you? Do you still know anyone from high school?"

"No. Most are still in Philly. I run into them sometimes when I visit my father."

The question lingered on the tip of Maddie's tongue, but she dared not ask it. _How often do you visit your father?_ From the last time he'd visited, she guessed not often since he hadn't seen him in almost three years then.

"That was a crazy time," Maddie replied absently. "Protests, sit-ins, picketing…hard to believe we ever got through it."

David laid there in thought and then asked, "You ever joined in on a sit-in?"

Maddie snickered and replied, "No way. My father would have killed me. I did participate in a protest, though. It was a peaceful protest. Handing out buttons, fliers, that sort of thing."

"Protesting what," he asked trying to imagine the glamour girl picketing and protesting like the kids he remembered in high school.

"War. What else," she said with a chuckle. "It was the sixties."

It was only times like this that their age different made any difference at all. That five years especially within the four years of high school would have made a difference. As he had entered high school, she had just entering college. His mind had wandered so far that he hadn't even realized how long the pause in conversation had been.

"What are you thinking, David?"

"Nothing. Just imagining you in bell-bottoms," and he grinned at her.

She let herself smile and he marveled at how that simple act still brightened an otherwise dark time. Quickly he switched gears, "So you dodged my question earlier."

"What's that?"

"Did you have a car?" Maddie was silent. "Come on, you can tell me."

"Yeah, I did. She was my pride and joy…"

"She? You gave your car a gender?"

"I named her Betsy," she said with a chuckle.

"You named your car," David asked in astonishment.

"It was the first big thing I ever actually owned. My dad gave it to me for my 16th birthday, but he made me a deal to go with it. I had to keep my grades up and pay for my own gas and insurance. My dad was no pansy. Definitely didn't give me an inch. There's no way I would have made it otherwise."

"What do you mean?"

"In modeling, I saw other girls flounder. They're parents were push-overs or just didn't care and they got into some pretty bad stuff. I may have been given a lot of opportunities, but I also saw a lot of scary things. You know that old line about 'the casting couch?'"

David was silent a moment and then said, "Someone…," he stammered. "…to you…"

"Not me," she was quick to correct. "But I heard about it. 14 and 15 year old girls. Who didn't know any better. Who'd go along with anything if they thought it would get them what they wanted. I know the only reason it didn't happen to me is because one of my parents was always with me."

"You're mom can be intimidating if she wants to be, I bet."

Maddie smiled. "You're not kidding. There was this one particular time. We were in New York for some photo shoot. It was just the photographer, me and my mother. My mom left the room for no more than a minute which was plenty of time for that creep to proposition me. He wanted me to take my clothes off…if I wanted a little extra money. I was 16."

David suddenly felt very protective and tightened his hold on her. "What happened?"

"My mother walked in as he was asking me this. She heard enough to grab me and march me out of there. I don't think I've given them enough credit for all they've done for me."

"I'm sure they know, Maddie."

"I'm not so sure," she replied quietly.

Maddie suddenly cuddled up closer to him and he felt a chill rush over him. "You cold," he asked.

"A little," she replied and he realized the room did feel cooler than it had earlier.

"I'll turn up the thermostat," he said getting up from the couch and crossing the room. He walked to a nearby lamp to turn it on, but found it didn't work. He flicked the switch a couple of times before he gave up. "Uh oh," he said.

He looked out the window and then walked over to where the snow continued to fall. It wasn't as heavy as before. "It looks like at least four blocks blacked out," he said. When he turned back to her, she was sitting on the edge of the couch. "It will probably get a lot colder in here."

"What about those blankets," Maddie asked.

"I think we still have them…," he trailed off in thought.

"I have some candles in my desk," and she headed to her desk while David left to find the blankets.

He returned a few minutes later with a couple of the plaid throws they had stuck at the back of the supply closet years ago. "They're not much, but it couldn't hurt."

Maddie pulled out a box of votive candles in an array of colors. She laid them out on her desk and then said, "Do we have any juice glasses?"

David laid the blankets on an arm of the sofa and said, "Maybe. Why?"

"Well, we have to put the candles in something."

David returned a minute or two later with a few coffee mugs and a couple of glasses cradled in his arms. "Couldn't find anything else," he said setting them carefully on her desk.

Maddie went to work plopping a candle into each cup and replied, "This will work fine."

David watched her for a moment and then said, "You seem to have done this before."

"It seemed whenever there was a thunder storm when I was little, our power would go out. Mom would light some candles and we'd roast marshmallows in front of the fire."

He watched her smiling at the memory and couldn't help but smile too. He also couldn't even express how much he wished they'd been held up in her house in front of that big fireplace of hers…all weekend.

Quickly he shook the thought from his head and offered a memory of his own. "My mom loved s'mores."

Maddie looked up in surprise at the mention of his mother. He never talked about her. "Did you go on camping trips?"

"Not a whole lot, but she loved them. Richie and I hated them, but we could never tell her that. She loved to make them for us after school."

"Never heard of it for an after school snack."

David chuckled and looked down at one of the candles as it burned from where Maddie had lit it from the match she still held. "Neither had I. She used to make them for my friends too and they loved it. 'Come to Dave's house. His mom makes smores!'" He laughed at the memory and Maddie remained quiet just letting him talk.

David looked back up at her now just smiling. His eyes still danced at the memories he shared. "Let me guess…your mom made chocolate chip cookies."

Maddie smiled and said, "You're really close. Snicker doodles."

"A lady after my own heart," he said with an approving smile.

"But everything she made was great. Pies, cakes, cookies, Thanksgiving dinner, even her meatloaf was to die for."

Suddenly David longed to have been invited to one of those Hayes family get-togethers. Sitting next to Maddie, sharing in food and conversation, maybe holding her hand…as if they were together.

"I loved her pot roast," Maddie added with a smile. She started to set up candles around the room. "What was your favorite meal?"

David was reluctant to answer, but the question had come so effortlessly from her, he couldn't disappoint. "Well, like any other Philly boy, I loved cheese steaks. But my mom made a great Thanksgiving dinner. She made the best stuffing. Never could get that recipe quite right."

Maddie thought back to those meals he had cooked for her. He knew his way around a kitchen better than any man she had ever known. She gave him a smile to show she was listening.

"We always had pumpkin pie and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Mom always wanted to please everyone - Dad didn't like pumpkin pie, but Richie and I did. I always had to have both." He smiled at the memories he was sharing - Maddie being the only person he thought he could ever share this with. Then he looked around the room at the soft glow the candles gave off. As she took position next to him, he rubbed his hands up and down her arms. "You still cold?"

"It is getting colder in here, but the building should hold some of the heat for the night. I'm sure they'll have it fixed tomorrow."

He didn't want it fixed tomorrow. He really didn't care to ever get out of this snow storm. It could fall continuously for all he cared. Being there with Maddie was all that mattered to him.

"Do you have a sweater or anything?"

"Actually, I do. I think," she said retreating to her bathroom.

When she returned, she had a wool cardigan in a deep royal blue hanging over her arm. "I got lucky," she started, but stopped when she noticed David was gone.

The next second, he returned wearing his blue dress shirt which was only slightly dry. He had left it unbuttoned to reveal the t-shirt he wore underneath. "I looked, but this was all I had in my office."

"Found a sweater. Maybe I can find something else…," she replied ready to head back to her bathroom.

"It's okay. We'll survive."

She pulled on the sweater and draped it around herself. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Sure," he replied. He grabbed the blankets from the couch and said, "Besides we can conserve body heat this way." Maddie sent him an uncertain look. "Or I could go back to my office."

"No, please stay."

He looked over at her seeing she meant it and smiled. "Okay." He fluffed out one of the blankets and then turned back to her, "Resume position?"

She smiled and advanced toward him until she was next to him. They both sat on the couch where David took special care to drape one blanket around Maddie's shoulders. "I'm find, David. You need this more than I do."

He stretched out along the couch and said, "Come here," and she laid down against him just as they'd done before. Then he draped the other blanket over both of them. Maddie shifted herself until she was comfortable lying against him with her head resting next to his shoulder. As she settled into a position, he wrapped an arm around her and rested it at the small of her back.

Maddie closed her eyes and just savored the moment. "Comfortable," he asked.

"Uh huh," she said finally feeling relaxed.

"Can I ask you something?"

"I suppose," she answered unsure of the question.

"What were we fighting about today?"

She was silent as she mulled over the day's events. "You mean what were we REALLY fighting about?"

"Yeah."

"I wish I knew."

"I mean, I understand you were upset. I shouldn't have gone about that undercover job the way I did. I admit that…"

"You don't have to explain, David. I wasn't completely innocent either. I did make that phone call that tipped off his wife that eventually ended up with him coming into the office. I wasn't thinking clearly."

"So, what happens?"

"He already said he'd only pay for the photos, so we're fine there. I guess we just eat the rest."

"You're really fine. After the screaming match this morning."

"I got over it."

"When?"

She was silent wanting to say why she'd reconsidered her position on this issue. Seeing that snow falling and having no idea where he had gone had terrified her. She imagined him in every possible situation - lying hurt in the car on the side of the road, in a ditch, or even out in the freezing cold. That was ridiculous, but it had crossed her mind. "This afternoon."

"What changed?"

"Me." He gave her a look that questioned her and she said, "I gave it some thought and I overreacted. I know I do that a lot."

David raised his hand and rested it on the top of her head. "I'm used to it," he replied with a smile.

She gave a tentative smile and said, "Why do we argue so much, David?"

"Because we're good at it," he replied with a grin.

"That's not what I mean."

"I don't know," he said. _Because we like making up?_

"I know it must seem like I'm an incredibly rigid person. Like I enjoy disagreeing. Like I…"

"Maddie," he interrupted. "I don't think that. Maybe at first, but not anymore."

She looked up at him and asked, "What changed?"

"Me. You. Us." They were silent as the conversation set in.

"So, you don't think I'm unreasonable?"

"Sometimes. Don't you ever find me unreasonable?"

"Ridiculous, maybe," she said with a chuckle and continued, "But not necessarily unreasonable."

"What do you base this on," he asked with a grin.

Maddie considered and replied, "You're ideas…an office sauna?"

"Hey, that was a great idea," he defended.

"We need computers."

"They can write instead of type. Won't hurt 'em."

"The answer is still no."

"Awww and the kids were so psyched."

Maddie shook her head and there was silence again. "You warm enough," he asked in a hushed voice. A voice she remembered from those nights they'd spent together. He used to ask her the same question as they'd laid together after making love. She shivered at the memory and he said, "You are cold."

As he shifted the blanket over her, she said, "I'm fine. Really. Just caught a chill."

He smoothed the blankets over her and ran his hand over her hair a few times before resting it on her back. For several long moments they laid there deep in their own thoughts. Maddie couldn't stop thinking about that month they were together. As much as she'd said they only had a physical relationship, she knew now it was more than that. It had been love that had brought them together that night. Maybe they did have incredible chemistry which had led to a moment of fireworks that left them both dazed. The underlying truth was that they had more than that. Much more and it only took five years to figure it out.

She broke the silence with, "Do you think we'll ever be the same?"

The question seemed to come from nowhere and it jarred David. So much so that they sat in silence before he replied. "As in what?"

"The way we used to be?"

"What are you asking, Maddie?"

She raised up on one elbow and looked at him. "Did we ruin everything?"

"How?"

"By sleeping together."

"I like to think it brought us closer," and he ran his fingers through her hair.

She looked down at his chest and said, "But it didn't."

"Okay, so maybe we made a few missteps along the way. Doesn't mean we can't move on."

"Maybe that's the problem. Maybe it's too late to fix it."

"Is that what you want?" She didn't answer him. "Maddie, what do you want?"

_I want you._ "I want to have what I used to have."

"You want what? Your life before Sawyer stole it…" She shook her head. "…Life when I just mildly tormented you?" She smiled and shook her head. "Then what?"

"I want…I want what we used to have. When it seemed we were going toward something."

She had never spoken these feelings before and she wasn't exactly sure how it was going to come out. All she knew was if nothing was done, they would eventually drift apart. She didn't think she could survive without him.

"Maddie," he began and then began to search for the right words. She looked up at him and he continued, "I've wanted that for so long."

Nothing was said as they stared at each other. Both searching for the sign they both wanted to see. Seeing all she needed to see, Maddie leaned over and pressed her lips to his. Their first kiss in over a year was not the urgent, intensity either had pictured. It wasn't the kiss they both dreamed about - it was gentle and full of the love they both shared. In that moment, they both knew that what they had shared wasn't gone.

When they pulled away from each other, there was a moment of awkwardness. Maddie didn't move and neither did David - both just stared at each other. Both fearing the other would deny it hadn't even happened. Instead David cracked a grin which made Maddie smile. Nothing needed to be said and she laid her head back against his chest. They laid in complete silence for an unknown period of time while they allowed their minds to wander.

Maddie became restless at the continuing questions that ran through her head. She knew there was one more thing they had to straighten out and she'd have to tell him. No matter how he fought her, she had to get it out in the open.

"David, I have to tell you something," Maddie said not looking up at him.

He cupped his hand behind her head and said, "What?" Feeling more than a little nervous at what she so desperately needed to tell him.

"I know it's probably not the greatest time to tell you this, but I have to." She paused as she absently toyed with the buttons on his shirt. And as she did this, David couldn't let his mind rest wondering if he should be reading anything into this act…yearning, longing…he knew he felt those things for her. After the kiss they had just shared, did she want to go further that evening? Could it be she wanted him as much as he wanted her? He shoved the thoughts away as she continued. "I wish I could tell you nothing happened between me and Sam…"

David didn't want to have this conversation and he interrupted, "Maddie, don't…"

"I have to, David." She sat up and met his gaze. Both giving themselves up by the look in their eyes - both were terrified. "Once," was all she said. It was so quiet, he wasn't sure he'd heard it.

"What?"

"Once. It was just once. In a weak moment. After he had taken you home, I gave into him." She ducked her head and he didn't reply. "I thought…I hoped…," she tried to continue. "We were together everyday for a month. I hoped…"

"It only takes one, Maddie," David said evenly. Still feeling regret and uncertainty at why she was telling him this.

"That's why you have to know, it wasn't."

"Wasn't what," he asked confused.

"The baby wasn't Sam's."

The shock registering on his face told Maddie he had had no idea until that moment. She was sure he had known at the hospital and leading up to the impending birth. He had to have known…but there was that look. He had been completely oblivious.

"What?"

"The baby was yours, David."

"How…"

"The sonogram was wrong."

And a period of silence filled the room. Both registering this information. Both digesting. Both figuring out the next step.

"I gave him your name," she said not meeting his gaze.

He lifted her chin so she would look at him and he asked, "Why? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I could barely face it myself. The burial was so simple. No ceremony, no mourners. I wanted it done. I wanted to move on."

"Did you?"

She shook her head before her answer, "No." Tears welled in her eyes. "I want to, David. I want to so badly it hurts. I still hear cries when there aren't any. I remember how it felt to carry him under my heart. I can still smell the paint in the nursery…And I don't want to remember." She broke into sobs.

He drew her closer again and held her as he felt tears of his own shed for the baby. The little boy they'd both lost…their little boy.

"Where's he buried, Maddie?"

The question lingered for a moment and she couldn't believe she'd never told him. "St. Mary's. You said once you attended mass there," and she wiped her tears from her cheek.

"Maddie, how could you do all this alone?"

"I didn't think I had a choice."

"You could have told me," he said in absolute sincerity. "I couldn't figure out why you shut me out."

"I didn't want to. But I did. I shut everyone out." Maddie was silent a moment and then said, "I need to tell you something else too."

"Not more," he replied leaning his head back against the cushion. "I don't think I can take much more."

"I was never with Walter."

The statement startled him and all he did was gape. "What?"

"We never…consummated our marriage."

He continued to gape and then said, "But you shared a house together."

"Barely a week."

"And you shared a bed."

"Barely a week," she repeated. "And that's all we did. Share a bed."

David continued his silence rolling over the words in his head until he asked, "Why are you telling me all this?"

"I just think you should know?"

"Why?"

"Well, the baby is obvious."

"That's not what I mean. Why do you think you have to tell me about the rest of it?"

_Because I love you._ "Because it felt like a betrayal and I know that's how you felt. Maybe it was all a cop-out. I was terrified of actually carrying Sam's child. I didn't want it to be his. If I married someone else, maybe you'd forget about me. I know it's stupid. I wasn't rational. I blame myself, sleep deprivation and Vegas."

This made David crack a smile. "Vegas I'll give you."

"I want you to know I never meant to hurt you. I'm sorry. What we had…"

David stopped her and said, "I wasn't fair to you either. I shouldn't have pushed you so much. I thought that was what you needed."

"David, it was. I was a coward. I was the one who wouldn't commit."

"Listen to me, Maddie. I was a coward too. When you left, I tried to forget you. Erase you from my mind."

"How?"

"Well…," he began not sure he wanted to really tell her, yet knowing he had to. If they were going to give up their secrets tonight, he had to. "Bert and I went to this bar and there was this woman there…" He looked to Maddie to see her reaction, but it hadn't changed. There wasn't shock or disappointment. "The next morning I found out you were pregnant and I felt like a first class jerk. I shouldn't have done it, Maddie. I thought you were gone. I didn't know about you…about the baby…"

"Because I didn't let you know. Look at us. How much more of a mess could we be?"

"Wait. You're not mad?"

"Mad? Not completely. Jealous, sure. Not betrayed. I did it to you too. Making you think I'd run off with this total stranger and that I'd slept with him without even knowing him. Who's the bigger jerk?"

Both looked at each other unsure of the answer.

Before David could stop himself he said, "I've never stopped caring about you, Maddie. Never. Not even when you were in Chicago. Not even when you had married someone else."

She wanted him to say it. Wanted to hear those words again. Those words he'd said during those nights they'd spent together. He'd murmured them into her ear after they'd made love. Before, during, after…while sipping a glass of wine…he'd told her over and over and yet she hadn't really believe him. And she had never said it to him.

"I thought about you every second," she whispered hoping she wouldn't cry again. "I wanted you with me." _Just like I want you now._

"I should have gone," he said almost thinking out loud.

"I would have pushed you away," she said sadly.

"Would you have," he asked tilting her head up to look into her eyes.

For a moment, she fought the urge to tell him what was in her heart. Then it all came loose like a dam bursting. "No. That's what I was afraid of."

"What about now," he asked still looking into her eyes.

"I don't want to. Not anymore." He leaned his head down to kiss her cheek and she softened against him. When he brought his mouth down on hers, she felt a million circuits bursting inside her. This wasn't the gentle kiss from before. This was intense, passionate and full of the need they both felt to be together. It was never like this with anyone else. Not with Sam or any of her other boyfriends. No one made her feel as good as David did just by the way he smiled at her or by a peck on the cheek. If he walked out of her life tomorrow, she felt as if a part of her would die. Maybe not, but she knew she would never be the same.

When David broke away from the kiss and started with a cascade of kisses along her neck. Maddie whispered the words she'd longed to tell David since their first night together, "I love you, David."

Immediately upon hearing those words, he stopped. He raised his head and looked at her in hopeful shock. "What did you say?"

"I love you. I have since our first date. Remember that?"

"Yeah. The symphony. It was horrible."

"The first part wasn't," she reminded him. He was still just staring at her and she continued, "I did when we made love. I could never give myself to someone I didn't love. And I did give myself to you. And that's what hurt so much. To knew I still loved you and thought I couldn't do a thing about it."

"Maddie…," he said nearly speechless. "I told you that first night and every night we were together…I've never stopped."

Nothing more needed to be said. Maddie initiated first brining him into a kiss that was deep and passionate. It wasn't long before this escaladed into more than kissing. They had pulled off the extra clothing they had added to keep warm in the chilly room. They were no longer cold and were shedding clothing as fast as they could. Both were in such a foggy state of passion that they hadn't thought of the most important thing. That was until David had a moment of clarity.

"Maddie, hold on a second." She had been trailing kisses along his neck and he hated to interrupt her, but he couldn't put this out of his mind. Not again.

"What," she mumbled.

"Are you…uh…do you have…you know." He swallowed and blurted out, afraid he would lose his nerve to ask, "Are you still on the pill."

This realization flashed across her face into what looked like disappointment. "No. I never went back on," and she looked down at his bare chest knowing the reality. "Do you have…"

"No," he answered quickly.

The room became silent and Maddie said, "I can't believe you of all people wouldn't keep one on hand."

It was meant as a joke to lighten the mood, but David replied with the truth. "Why would I? The only woman I wanted didn't seem to want me."

The comment stung a moment, but Maddie understood. "I didn't think you wanted me."

"How could you think that?"

"Why would you?"

"Baby," he said, "You're all I ever thought about. I couldn't get you out of my mind."

That endearment brought back those memories of that time together. Lying there with him, she couldn't believe she hadn't seen it all before - what they had really shared beyond the physical. She was just too stubborn and blind to see it. She leaned down and kissed his bare chest and whispered, "I was so blind. Can you ever forgive me?"

David grinned down at her and said, "Do you really have to ask," and he gently ran his fingers through her hair as she looked back up at him.

Maddie smiled hopefully and asked, "What now?"

"We could get some sleep."

"I can't believe you don't have any in your office," she said as an afterthought.

"Not since we christened my desk, Sweetheart," he said with a grin. She returned the grin at the memory of that evening. It had been a Friday and the employees had gone home. David had been in his office when Maddie had come in to ask about a receipt. One minute she was asking about a mysterious charge from a gas station outside of town and the next they were locked in an embrace that could be described only as HOT. In one motion, David had cleared the top of his desk. Without hesitation, he'd lifted her onto his desk, but hadn't joined her until he'd grabbed something from a paper sack in his desk drawer. As with everything she'd experienced with David, this was another first. And not just the act and the location. She'd never felt that urgency before. The need to touch him and be touched by him. He was like a drug and she couldn't get enough of him.

David broke her thoughts, "We can wait a day, can't we?"

Maddie snuggled against him and said, "Can you?"

"I'll wait as long as it takes."


	3. Saturday

**Saturday**

The next morning, not much had changed. The snow had turned into a near blizzard which topped the charts for Southern California. Meanwhile David and Maddie were still stuck on the 20th floor.

At around 9 AM, David and Maddie awoke to a ringing phone. Maddie got up from where she was sleeping against David and discovered a frantic Agnes on the other line…

"I called and called all night! The phone just rang!"

"The power went out sometime last night. The phone lines were probably down too."

"Are you okay, Miss Hayes?"

"I'm fine," and she looked over at David who was rubbing his eyes.

"I can't find Mr. Addison. I called all over and no one…"

"Don't worry, Agnes. He's here."

"He's there? With you?"

"Yes, he's here…with me. And he's fine. We're both fine."

"You're fine," she asked in shock.

"Yeah, fine."

"Well, that's great."

"Yeah, it is pretty great," and she looked back at David who just grinned at her and trying to loosen a kink in his shoulder.

When she hung up, Maddie joined David on the couch again. They sat next to each other in silence for a while until David took her hand in his. Maddie smiled. "Want breakfast?"

"Breakfast? You mean cold Chinese?"

"I think I can whip sometime up."

"What, Bert's stash of Pop Tarts," she teased.

"Go ahead and laugh, but I think I can throw together something." He gave her a smile as he left the room.

Maddie was curious as to what he could find in the scarcity of the office. After all, most of the employees did have a candy dish. But unless they wanted to feast on Snickers and peppermints, she thought they were out of luck.

Fifteen minutes later David entered the room with a tray and an array of food spread atop it. Maddie stared as David entered with one of Maddie's votive candles burning in a clear water glass at the center. He set the tray down on her desk where she had been sitting.

"Where did this come from," and she picked up a croissant that sat next to a pad of butter.

"I think I found our Christmas feast."

"Oh no. They wanted to surprise us."

"Well, it was either this or whatever was in the staff fridge."

"I thought you had food in your office."

"I did. I think some little mice have been pilfering."

Maddie looked over the food which consisted of the croissants, deli sliced ham, two apples and two glasses of orange juice. "Where did you find the food?"

"They didn't make it hard. It was in the back of the supply closet. I guess it was too dark to see it last night when I found the blankets."

Maddie tore off a piece of the flaky pastry and stuck it in her mouth. Suddenly she was starving and she wasn't sure this would suffice her hunger. She looked at the ham and asked, "This was in the supply room too?"

"No, that I found in the back of the fridge. Along with the two apples." He took a long swig of his juice and said, "If you want more, I could scrounge around in the holiday stash."

"Well, we should be fine. I can't imagine we'll be stuck here much longer." But she could imagine it. She didn't care if they never got out. Was this freak snow storm their second chance? Or was it third chance?

The rest of breakfast was shared with light conversation. They commented on the events of the moment, news from home and other safe topics. After they finished, David turned on the TV where they discovered mass panic across the state. CNN showed scenes all over and David and Maddie expressed their amusement at the reactions. They were so enthralled that whatever nervousness they might have felt before had vanished.

"I can't believe these people," David said as he returned with a few snacks. "You'd think the world was ending."

Maddie took a box of crackers from him and poured a small pile on her desk for them to share. She took one and took a bite. "I still don't understand this place sometimes."

"Neither do I. I sometimes wonder why I came."

"Why did you come?"

David popped a cracker into his mouth and considered the question. "Well, I wanted as far away from Philly as possible. Couldn't go any further without a passport. What about you?"

"Work," she said flatly. "I wanted to stay in New York, but my agent convinced me LA was better for my career."

"Was it?"

"I guess. I visited, wasn't too impressed with the plasticity. New York is very quirky and it reminded me a lot of my beginning days as a model. Coming here was so fake. But I stayed. Bought my house, the car, settled in. I never did really get used to it."

"Where do you see yourself?"

"Home," and they both knew where she meant. Chicago. "I mean, I do think of LA as home too, but more my house as home. Not the city. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah," he said although she wasn't sure he did. "I don't really think of Philly as home anymore."

"Does your dad live anywhere near where you grew up," she asked assuming he had moved long ago.

"Same house. Not much as changed either. I think he never wanted to be too far from my mom." Maddie looked at him with sad eyes and he shrugged. "What about you? Your parents live in the same house, right?"

"It's like nothing has changed," she said with a smile. "Even my room," and she chuckled. "That's the only thing I think should change. I've told my mother countless times to turn it into a spare room, but she always says it will always be my room." She looked over at David who just smiled. "It's nice, but it makes me feel guilty. I should visit them more."

"I don't visit my father like I probably should," he said. She looked up at him and he said, "It's never easy with parents."

"No," she said with uneasiness. "I guess not."

David let his mind wander trying not to think too hard about the past. About the life he left behind in Philly. He began to think about Maddie's girlhood home in Chicago. He thought of her room and wondered if she had covered her walls with her accomplishments like she had her magazine covers in her bedroom. He had stared at those hundreds of times. In the early mornings he spent with her, he had looked them over before she awoke and banished him from her bed. As he laid there one morning, he realized the woman he loved wasn't there, she was lying next to him. They weren't the same person. And just like now, he could tell the difference.

The woman he loved then and still loves could turn the most mundane of tasks into something unforgettable. Like the time they'd spilled red wine on the rug in the living room. Maddie had refused to let the stain set and had pulled out the carpet cleaner. David had teased her, but had immediately taken over the task. Two completely inept people trying to figure out what buttons did what made them laugh and after the stain was treated, he'd pulled her into his arms and they had made love on the living room rug.

He loved her laugh, her smile and the way she became excited over the smallest of things. Like discovering her favorite artist would be unveiling his artwork, or how her face lit up when she got a call from her mother or even when a cup of coffee was waiting for her when she woke up. David knew he would do anything to make her smile again.

"You're quiet." She tilted her head as she took another cracker. "Where did you go?"

His mind worked fast to come up with something to tell her. "When do you think this storm will end?"

Maddie looked out the window for the first time since that morning. "Well, the snowing has stopped, so I guess the storm part is over. What did the news say? They didn't have snow plows, so they'd have to truck them in?"

"So, in the meantime, LA is shut down."

Maddie looked out the window and asked, "Did you have plans this weekend?"

David didn't answer until she turned and looked him square in the face. "Nothing important. You?"

"Same," and she looked down at the crackers again. "Nothing I can't do any other weekend."

"Maddie," David said to get her attention. When she looked back at him, he said, "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

This made her smile and she said, "You want to know something?" He continued to watch her waiting for her revelation. "I can't even remember my plans now."

He cracked a cock-eyed grin at her and chuckled looking down at the desk.

For two people who had spent nearly every waking moment together for nearly a month plus 40 plus hours each week in the same office suite, you'd think they'd know how to occupy a Saturday. Both were so clueless, they began to feel stir-crazy.

"Hangman," David asked.

"I hate that game."

"Cards? I know there's a desk around here somewhere."

"I don't play poker."

"I could teach you."

"Tempting, but no," she said dripping in sarcasm.

"Go fish?"

"Don't think so."

David considered the options and then said, "Are there any board games around here?"

Maddie chuckled and dropped her head onto her desk. David just stared at her and she looked up at him in amusement. "This is ridiculous. We've known each other five years and we can't figure out something to do."

"Well…we've never been stuck…"

"We were stuck in an elevator."

"That was different," he said looking her in the eye.

She nodded sadly and said, "Well, what did we do before? You know…when we…"

"Besides…" he said with a grin.

"Yes, besides that," she said with a similar grin.

"Didn't we watch a few movies? Spent some time in the pool…really miss that pool…"

He had a faraway look in his eyes and Maddie longed for his presence in her home. Knowing someone was there when she returned late from the office or just expecting him at some point in the night. It hadn't all been in the bedroom…actually, it didn't matter what room they were in…she shook the memory of David hoisting her onto the kitchen counter out of her mind. "We could watch a movie," she blurted out. He looked back at her also shaken from his thoughts. "Something's bound to be on somewhere."

They retreated to the couch where they flipped channels until they found something they could watch. Their TV's had been hooked up years before to the satellite on the roof. One of David's ideas - one Maddie hadn't discovered until this moment. She chided him telling him it was theft. "Everyone else in the building does it," he responded.

"It's still theft, David."

"No one's caught on for over six years."

She shook her head and decided this was a battle not worth fighting.

It was a Saturday afternoon and all they could find were a few old black and white movies. When David ran across "The Maltese Falcon," Maddie made him stop.

"I love this movie."

He watched a moment as the beginning credits rolled. "So you're a Humphrey Bogart fan?"

"I love all these old movies," she said with a smile. "My dad used to watch them with me."

David felt a tingle of joy run through him at the thought that she was sharing this with him. "How about popcorn?"

"Do we have any?"

"I think so. Hold on."

David returned a few minutes later with a fresh batch of popcorn. They sat the rest of the afternoon watching one detective movie after the other. The two laughed and commented and shared meanwhile growing closer. Not just in proximity, although Maddie had snuggled up to David and he had wrapped an arm around her, it was also in body and mind. They were sharing like old friends who had never had complexity in their relationship. David teased her and she teased back without hesitation. He'd make a joke and she'd give him a hard time about it. By the time they were watching "The Big Chill," David was criticizing detection techniques.

"No one would ever do that."

"David, you're really ruining this for me."

"Come on, Maddie. How many times have we done the exact same thing?"

"It's a movie, David. A very old movie. Besides, no one can pick a lock like you."

David looked over at where she had laid her head on his shoulder. "Was that a compliment?"

"It was supposed to be," she smiled.

Before he could speak, Maddie's stomach growled. "You hungry?"

"I guess so," although she really didn't want to move from her position. She liked being there with David. This felt safe and comfortable…like things should be.

"Let me see what I can come up with for dinner," he said with a smile getting up from the couch.

"David…"

"You got last night. It's my turn," she said and flashed her a grin before leaving the office.

It was over twenty minutes later when David returned. Maddie heard the outer office door close and the next second, David entered the office with an armful of food that looked like it came from a mini-mart.

"Where did you go?"

He dropped the food onto the coffee table and said, "To every floor of the building. And every vending machine I could find."

Maddie searched through the food finding two sandwiches, some fruit, a few candy bars, bags of chips and some soda. "Is this stuff even safe to eat," she asked uneasily.

"Checked the expiration dates. They must stock these weekly."

"How did you know where to go," she asked scrutinizing an orange.

David chuckled nervously and suddenly Maddie wished she could retract her question. "I've spent a few nights here." He looked up at Maddie's curious gaze. "When my apartment was being fumigated and I couldn't afford a hotel. A night I couldn't catch a cab home, so I came here…stuff like that," and he looked back at the food.

"When was this?"

"A while ago."

"When," she asked sternly.

"Various times in the last seven years."

"You know you could always stay with me."

He shook his head and said, "No, I couldn't."

"Why," she asked nervously.

He was silent for a long moment and then he said, "Because…because I wanted it too bad."

"Wanted what?"

"You," he said looking into her eyes.

Neither attempted to break the gaze until Maddie looked down at the coffee table. "Why didn't you ever say something," she asked quietly.

"Why didn't you?"

She met his gaze again and saw he was staring down the inevitable question: What had kept them apart?

"I don't know. I only wish I knew. I really do, David."

He took a seat next to her taking her right hand between both of his. "All I know, Maddie, is that it looks like we can have a second chance. Now the question is: are we going to take it?"

Maddie was silent a moment too afraid to mess this up. She lifted her head, looked him in the eye and answered, "I want to."

David smiled which she immediately shared and he ran a hand through her hair. "Well," David said with a truly happy smile Maddie hadn't seen in a long time. "What say we enjoy our dinner." He looked over the food and said in disappointment, "if you can really call it that."

Maddie, without hesitation, gave him a kiss on the cheek and said, "This is probably the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me."

He gave her a dubious look and said, "If this is the nicest, what did your other suitors do?"

Maddie chuckled and said, "I mean this whole weekend."

He shrugged and said, "Well, how could I leave you alone here. Besides, you're the one who stayed with me." She looked away and he continued, "I mean, that is why you didn't go home along with everyone else. Isn't it?" She delayed answering until David said, "Maddie…"

"Yes. The answer's yes." He grinned. "Can we get on with dinner," she asked changing the subject.

They shared their meager dinner which Maddie had to admit wasn't as bad as she'd expected. While they ate, they continued watching old movies. And as the evening went on, they couldn't deny they were getting closer. Maddie couldn't even deny that she was feeling the intimacy she had always wanted with David.

It was so comfortable that they soon forgot the movie and just began talking. Soon they were laughing and sharing just like nothing had ever come between them.

"You did not," David replied with shock and a grin.

"It was my rebellious streak."

"I don't believe you," that famous Addison grin unwavering.

"I did," she assured.

"A tattoo?!"

"Me and my friends ran off one Saturday night. I think I wanted to do it so badly because I knew my father would freak."

David's grin stayed and he carefully looked her over from head to foot where they sat together on her couch. "I don't remember a tattoo."

She fought off a blush and said, "Never got it. Dad stopped me before I went through with it."

"Damn," David said under his breath. Truly disappointed and hoping he had just overlooked it before…although, knowing there was no way he could have.

Maddie grabbed her soda as a way to stave off her nerves at this turn in conversation. "What about you?"

"You know I don't have one."

She couldn't stop the blush this time and she ducked her head. "We were talking about childhood pranks."

He chuckled and said, "Oh, right. Let's see…I set off the sprinkler system in eighth grade."

"That sounds very much like something you would do."

"But, I bet you can't guess why."

"Something to do with a test?"

"No. A girl."

Maddie stared at him and David just smiled back at her. "I had a crush on this girl. She said she wouldn't go out with me unless I somehow prevented her from having to give a Spanish presentation. So, I did."

"Did she go out with you," she asked amused.

"Once. Dumped me for my best friend at the time." David began to laugh and Maddie joined him.

"What we do when we're young," she said as their laughter died down.

David took a look at his watch and said, "It's 11. Suppose we should get some sleep."

"Another night here, huh?"

Both sat staring at each other. "Yep, another night," David replied with a hint of a smile.

"I thought we'd be out by now," she said remembering what had almost happened the previous night.

"Disappointed," he asked.

She thought it over a moment, looked back at him and smiled. "No. Not at all."

A moment passed where they exchanged a knowing smile. "Well," David said breaking the silence. "I'm glad I keep an extra razor here or else I'd start looking like a street person."

Maddie chuckled and said, "You realize, David, it's Agnes who really keeps this place running." He looked over at her questioning her comment. "She does her job, but she goes above and beyond. She stocks our fridges, our bathrooms, makes sure we don't run out of staples…and she does it all without a word from us."

"She's the one who keeps my bathroom stocked in soap and aftershave?"

Maddie looked at him in shock and said, "Who did you think did it?"

He scratched his head in thought and replied, "Don't know. Never really thought about it."

"She deserves a lot, David. And more than a 'job well done.'" He nodded in agreement, but didn't say anything. After a silent moment, Maddie said, "Well…I think I'll see if I can find something to change into."

When Maddie had left the room, David returned to his office where he did his best to clean himself up. He didn't have another change of clothes as he was sure Maddie did, so he chanced staying in the t-shirt and sweats. After he felt he'd done his best with what he had, he contemplated what to do next. Return to Maddie's office? Would they sleep together again? What if things became intimate like the previous night? What if this time he didn't have the presence of mind to stop it? He knew he wanted nothing more than to be with her no matter what they did. He decided it didn't matter. If she allowed him another night with her, he'd do whatever he had to not to screw it up.

Returning to Maddie's office, he found she hadn't returned from the bathroom yet. He checked his watch to see how long he'd been gone. He still didn't understand women. _Why does it take them so long?_

He took a seat on the couch where the TV was still on and showing another black and white movie. He settled back against the sofa cushion and began to flip through channels with the remote finally stopping on the weather channel. This all had to end sometime and he wanted to know how much longer he had with her. How long he had until all of this was gone. What they shared didn't have to end. The question was, did Maddie mean all she had said. Was she willing to truly give them a second chance?

The TV flashed more scenes from across California of people stuck in their homes and children rejoicing at the extended snow days. Just then the bathroom door opened and Maddie stepped out with a towel wrapped around her hair and wearing the same clothes as before, but looking a little more comfortable. She wasn't really paying attention to whether David was in the room as she pulled the towel from her hair and let her dampened hair fall down around her shoulders. David was sure his heart stopped because he knew his breath caught as she gave her hair a shake. Had she ever looked sexier to him? He was sure not. He knew he'd seen her in little to nothing, but this scene had to be the sexiest he'd seen her.

When she noticed him, she smiled. "Anything new," she asked.

"Huh," he asked afraid she'd caught him staring at her.

"The weather," she explained. "Anything new?"

"Oh," he said looking back at the TV and hurried to cover. "Not really. Seems this will last the weekend."

She ran her fingers through her hair and sat down next to him on the couch. "I guess we should just plan to stay for the weekend."

"Disappointed?"

She looked over at his serious expression and smiled. "I already told you. I want to be here. And you called me on it," she added looking away.

He took her hand and said, "If you don't want me here…"

She looked back at him and said in all sincerity, "Of course I want you here."

"If you want me to, I can sleep…"

"I thought we covered this last night."

"I don't want to push you again."

She saw the uncertainty in his eyes and she said, "David, I want you here with me. How many times do I have to say it?"

"I just don't want to do something that makes you uncomfortable."

Maddie looked into her lap and sighed. "I deserve this," she said as if she were thinking out loud. "Stay with me," she said looking back at him.

"Okay," he said with a smile.

Before long, they were cuddled up on the couch again catching the last of an old movie. Neither said a word in the darkness of Maddie's office with only the glow of the TV as illumination. David paid little attention to the movie. His focus was on Maddie and her proximity. They laid there together like the previous night with her head resting against his chest. He couldn't help but feel that he could get used to the feel of her against him. Her hair smelled of shampoo and he guessed she must have washed her hair in the sink in her bathroom. As much as he tried, he couldn't get that image out of his head.

Without realizing it, Maddie had drifted off to sleep. He was too busy thinking about her to realize it. When he did realize it, he pulled the plaid blanket over her a little more securely and flipped off the TV. He settled down into the sofa and smiled down at the woman lying with him. He knew this would all end tomorrow, but maybe the best part didn't have to.


	4. Sunday

**Sunday**

The next morning, David awoke alone. At first he wasn't sure of anything including the day. He stretched which was his usual morning ritual. Then he noticed Maddie standing by her desk looking sadly out one of the windows.

"Maddie," he said sleepily.

She looked over and smiled. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah," he yawned. "It was okay. What's up?"

He stood and joined her at the window following her glance. Large snow plows were on the street below slowly clearing a path through the feet of snow. "It will all be gone in a few days," she said as if she were far away.

David took hold of one of her arms as if to comfort her. "It doesn't have to end, Maddie." She looked at him and she knew he didn't mean the snow. When she smiled, he said, "What about breakfast?"

"You got yesterday…"

"No," he insisted, "Let me."

He returned fifteen minutes later to find Maddie sitting at her desk watching the morning news. She looked sad again until she saw him. She laughed when she saw the tray he carried filled with pastries, fruit and what looked like a slice of cheesecake.

"Where did you find cheesecake," she asked looking over the food.

"Vending machine down the hall."

They sat and enjoyed the breakfast as if they were eating at the Ritz. Both Maddie and David couldn't have enjoyed it more if they had. They talked and laughed and both felt as if they were moving toward something bigger. Something that would last past the weekend.

After breakfast, David cleared their dishes as Maddie considered what to do with the Sunday. Then she thought about their pending cases and how the fiasco they had made of their most recent case had put their others on the back burner.

When David returned, Maddie was digging through files she had pulled from her desk drawer. "What are you doing," he asked.

"Going through some things."

David took a seat on the corner of her desk and sorted through some of the paperwork. "The Rodriquez case, huh? I thought we closed that one."

"We never found her stolen jewelry."

"Didn't she say that painting we found meant more than the necklace?"

"It's principle, David. We should have finished the case."

David set the file down knowing Maddie too well. She would never let anything be officially closed until they'd finished the job. "Are these all our current cases?"

"Plus a few others."

David sorted through the files and then said, "It really would make you feel better if we wrapped up these cases. Wouldn't it?"

Maddie looked over at him and said, "Yes, it would."

"Then let's do it."

"Now?"

"Can you think of anything else to do? We've raided the entire office of entertainment. You won't let me teach you how to play poker. Only other thing to do is work."

And that's just what they did for the remainder of the morning. Soon they had spread out every case on the floor of Maddie's office sorting through the details; perhaps something they had overlooked. By the time lunch came around, they had put two cases into a whole new light and come up with a strategy on getting Mrs. Rodriquez her lost jewelry back.

"First thing Monday I'll hit Tiffany's," David said.

Maddie looked David over from his sweats to his five o'clock shadow he hadn't bothered to shave that morning and said, "I think you'd have better luck at the pawn shops."

David chuckled as he ran a hand across his stubble and said, "Okay, so Tuesday I'll hit Tiffany's."

Maddie grinned at him and continued, "And what about Mr. Douglas? I think this is somewhat open and shut."

"Nothing is ever open and shut with us."

"His brother is embezzling money. It's plain as anything I've ever seen. We just have to show him the evidence."

"And when do you want to make that appointment?"

"Tuesday." She made a note in her appointment book that laid next to her. "Afternoon. Late."

David gave a cock-eyed grin and said, "So, with all of these appointments on Tuesday and Wednesday, what exactly do you plan on doing on Monday?" Maddie looked up from her appointment book and gave him a smile. His grin broadened and he said, "Why, Miss Hayes, are you eluding to something?"

"I'm trying," she said as she grinned back. "What do you want to do about Mrs. Anderson," she asked not taking her eyes off of him.

"Who," he asked his mind elsewhere.

"Our client Mrs. Anderson."

"Remind me," he said also not taking his eyes from her.

"Husband left her. Bert found him in Bermuda with his secretary."

"All she wanted were pictures, right?"

"Right."

"I'll pick up the pictures, you make the appointment."

"Tuesday."

"Is that the last case?"

"Yep," she answered closing her appointment book. When she looked back at David, he was just watching her. "So, what now?"

"I could teach you how to play poker," he said with a grin.

And so, he did. They used the rest of the day to every bit of their advantage. First, David taught her how to play poker over re-heated Chinese food. He endured her constant questions about bluffing, the succession of hands and exactly when to fold. After the lesson, he almost immediately regretted doing so when she beat him at four hands and won twenty bucks. "Beginners luck," he groaned handing over the money.

They moved onto play a few more hands of various card games including hearts, gin and go fish. They did this until they grew tired of it…and when Maddie had won all David's money. In the end, Maddie had refused to take it saying, "You'd better take me someplace nice." He hadn't questioned it when she had given him a warm smile.

As David put the cards away, Maddie stole another look out the window as the plows were making another sweep of the street below. David saw her far-away look and said, "What now?" Maddie had been playing with a piece of paper; folding and refolding into what David thought looked like a bird.

He walked over to her and took the paper object and said, "What's this?"

She chuckled and said, "Oh, it's a crane."

He looked at the bird and the intricate folds. "Where's you learn to do that?"

"Took this elective class in high school hoping to meet some interesting people. All it did was teach me origami. I used to do this when I was nervous. It calmed me. I guess it still does."

"Show me," he said quietly handing the crane back to her.

Twenty minutes later they were back on Maddie's office floor with paper all around either wadded into balls, lying flat in a pile or folded into what looked like misshaped creatures. David sat paying careful attention to his folding as Maddie walked him through each step.

"No, like this. See?"

"Maybe this isn't a guy thing," he said looking at his piece of paper which was in sad condition looking like it had been balled up repeatedly and then smoothed out again.

"Maybe the crane wasn't the thing to try first. I could show you the giraffe. That's not hard."

David chuckled as he looked at the paper in front of him. "If my buddies saw me doing this…" He laughed.

"What?"

He didn't look up at her as he continued, "They'd say I've got it bad."

Maddie tried to hide a smile. "And what would you say?"

He met her gaze looking into the bluest eyes he ever remembered seeing. "I'd say they were right."

Without warning, Maddie leaned across the space between them and kissed him on the lips. David brought a hand up to the back of her head threading his fingers through her silky hair drawing her closer to him as the kiss lingered. When they pulled away, David said, "What was that for?"

"I don't want this to end, David."

"What?"

"You know what I mean. You feel it too."

He nodded and said, "Yeah, I do. What do you want to do about it?"

She sighed and said, "Can we try again?"

"What does that mean, Maddie?"

"It means, I want to try this again. I want to know what it's like to go shopping in a grocery store with you, to go out for cheeseburgers on a Tuesday night after work, go bowling with you or even take our clothes to the cleaners. I want everything I was too afraid to want before. I've wanted it for too long to admit, but I was too afraid to admit I was wrong. But I'm not afraid anymore." David watched her with hope in his eyes as she said, "I was wrong. I love you and I want to try again."

David watched her a moment letting one corner of his mouth curl upward in that characteristic Addison grin and he said, "Well, when you put it that way." He gave her a smile she recognized. He saw her eyes mist over and he pulled her into a hug which they held for several minutes. He whispered into her ear the one thing she needed to hear more than 'I love you.' "I missed you."

That was her undoing and she let herself cry against his shoulder. She had no idea how long she cried when she raised her head from his shoulder. "I'm sorry," she said wiping away her tears. "I feel like a wreck."

He smiled lovingly at her and smoothed back her hair from her face. "It's okay." As she pulled herself together, he looked at his watch. "What do you want for dinner?"

"Oh, I couldn't eat. I just want to go to bed."

"You sure? I could raid the vending machines again," he teased.

She smiled and said, "Tempting, but no thanks. Let me freshen up and I'll be back."

While Maddie was gone, David took the time to shave and clean himself up. When he returned to her office, Maddie was seated on her couch flipping through the TV channels. He just stood taking in this woman whom he loved beyond words. This woman who had just proclaimed her love for him. A woman he knew he wanted in his life and not just while things were good. He wanted everything with her - good and bad.

Maddie turned sensing he was in the room and smiled at him. And then there was that smile. It left him helpless. He'd do anything she asked with that smile. Did she know how powerful it was?

She made room for him on the couch and he took a seat. Without a word, he took one of her hands into his and kissed the back of her hand without taking his eyes off of hers. Maddie smiled bigger than before and leaned against him as they snuggled up on the couch for the third night in a row. David only hoped there would be more nights like this except at her house…snuggled up on her couch in front of a fire and sharing a bottle of wine. They had had few quiet, relaxing moments in that month together. Everything had been so secretive that everything they did was strained. Now, it would be different. He kissed her forehead as she snuggled against him.

"Comfortable?"

"Uh huh," she said with a smile.

"Cold?"

"No."

"Need anything?"

"Just one thing."

"What's that?"

"You."

David wrapped his arms tightly around her and couldn't wait until they were able to leave. Able to have a fresh start and return to the land of the living. He leaned close to her ear and whispered, "I love you, Maddie."

With a smile, she whispered, "I love you too, David." Shortly thereafter, both fell into a restful sleep. And for the first time in months, neither was plagued by their past.


	5. Monday

**Monday Morning**

Monday morning as the snow plows were sweeping the downtown area one last time, the outer office door to "Blue Moon Investigations" opened. The employees flooded the office all talking about the weekend. Some had been stuck in their homes, some without power, some enjoying the chance to enjoy the peace and quiet and some complaining they hadn't seen some sporting event or movie they had planned to see.

As the employees went about their normal Monday routine, Agnes dropped her things off at her desk and headed toward Maddie's office with her mail in hand and the newspaper under one arm. On her way, she picked up her watering can deciding the plants could probably use some care after the cold weekend.

Since the city had been declared passable Sunday evening, Agnes assumed her bosses were safely at their respective homes. When she opened the door, however, she walked in on what looked like someone had not only been there recently, but that they had been living there. Food boxes and plates littered Maddie's desk, various articles of clothing were slung over various chairs and a few long-ago burned-out candles sat on the window sill.

Agnes was perplexed until she turned to the right and saw a sight that almost made her gasp. She stopped herself when her hand clasped over her mouth. David and Maddie were curled up on the couch together asleep - Maddie lying against David and her head resting on his chest. David had his arms wrapped lovingly around her.

Agnes smiled with hope in her heart and was about to bow out quietly when she felt someone standing behind her. She turned and found the other employees peaking around the door at the same scene. She immediately shoved them all out and closed the door on what she could only assume was the start of a second chance for them.

When the door clicked shut, Maddie stirred. She yawned and opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was David and she smiled. Laying her head back on his chest, she let her smile linger. They loved each other and nothing was going to get in their way again. Nothing.

Maddie carefully nuzzled his neck and he let out a disapproving grunt. She smiled at the sound and then kissed him along his collar bone. This time he grinned and opened his eyes. With a yawn, he said, "I could get used to this."

"Well, play your cards right and we'll see."

He wrapped his arms protectively around her and said, "Good morning."

"Good morning."

"Sleep okay?"

"Very well," she said with a smile.

They were silent a moment until David said, "I have an idea. What say you and me go out and get some breakfast. A real breakfast. Diner style."

"That sounds so good. I'm really hungry. But I have to go home and change."

"I should probably do the same."

They shared a smile and Maddie said, "Well…"

"Well."

"I guess we should face Monday head on," and began to rise.

David stopped her, "Maddie?" She stopped and propped herself on an elbow. "Why don't we take the day off? Use it to get ourselves back together."

"I think that's a great idea."

"Really?"

"What do you say dinner at my place?"

David was blown over by her forwardness. She had never been like this. "Maddie, where is this coming from? You're not acting like yourself."

"No, David, I'm finally grasping my life. I don't want to take anything for granted again. And that includes you. You ARE the best thing that ever happened to me."

He smiled and pulled her closer to him. "And you're the one good thing in my life."

Maddie leaned closer and kissed him. Pulling away, she said, "So, my place?"

"You're place, but I'll bring dinner."

She smiled and said, "I guess we should face the day, huh?" Maddie sat up and David joined her.

"So, home and then breakfast?"

"Sounds great," she said as they stood. "After breakfast," she said facing him, "There's something we need to do that's way overdue."

"What," David asked in concern.

"Breakfast first," she said walking toward her door.

When she opened the door, there was an office full of people staring at her. David joined her and stopped at the stares. He didn't skip a beat.

"What's the matter? Haven't you ever seen two people enter a room before?" The employees exchanged looks and then returned to their work.

They walked over to Agnes' desk where she looked hopeful. "Agnes," Maddie said. "Mr. Addison and I will be taking the day off. I made some notes in my appointment book about a few meetings I'd like to have arranged. Could you do that today? We'll be in tomorrow morning."

"Yes, Miss Hayes." She looked down at her desk and then back up at her bosses. "How as your weekend?"

Maddie looked to David and they exchanged a smile. "Different," and she looked back at Agnes, "but unforgettable."

"That's great," she replied happily.

"See you tomorrow," David said and ushered Maddie out of the office.

Later that morning, the sun was low in the LA sky. The snow was gone from the ground, but the temperature was still not the humid heat the city was used to. Afternoon was approaching and people were starting out their week as if nothing had ever been out of order.

David and Maddie slowly strolled across a large expanse of lawn arm in arm. They didn't talk or do much of anything except advance toward the iron fencing around St. Mary's cemetery. David held a bouquet of yellow daisies in his one free hand.

When they passed under the threshold of the cemetery, David asked, "Where?"

Maddie pointed to a shady part where a grouping of elm trees grew. "There."

The couple walked along the sawdust path that skirted the cemetery. Maddie scanned the place markers wondering how much pain each family had felt. She wondered if everyone's grief was as painful as hers had been.

Maddie guided him the rest of the way through a maze of marble stones displaying the names of lost loved ones. When she stopped, she scanned a row and moved three down and stopped. David looked down at the small headstone bearing only two lines: name and one date - the birth and death.

Adam Robert Addison  
December 6, 1988

David knelt before the stone and traced the name with his fingers. He lingered on "Addison" and Maddie thought she could see a tear on his cheek. Carefully, he laid the flowers against the stone and then just stared.

Maddie joined him on bended knee linking his arm with hers. He looked over at her and she saw the tears in his eyes. "It's okay," she said soothingly. "I think it's time we finally grieved. And finally let ourselves grieve."

"I held him. Did you know that?" Maddie shook her head and he looked back at the stone. "I did. I thought of him as my son then. I just didn't know he was blood."

"I'm sorry," Maddie said feeling the tears come.

David immediately wrapped his arms around her and they comforted each other in the pain. He didn't know how long they held each other, but when his tears subsided, he drew away only enough to look at her. He gently wiped away her tears and said, "Can we do this, Maddie? Can we really start over?"

"I want to. I know I've never wanted anything more."

"And I've never felt this way about anyone."

"What way is that?"

"Maddie, you mean more to me than anything else in my life. I can live without everything else, but I can't live without you."

She began to cry again at his words, "Oh, David. I love you. Please, don't ever doubt that."

He hugged her close and said, "I don't. Not anymore."

After a moment, they composed themselves and stood. The couple, with arms tightly wrapped around each other, looked down at the small headstone saying a silent good-bye.

"Shall we go," David asked her.

"Yes," and leaned her head against his shoulder. "It's time to move on." He kissed her forehead and they began to walk away. As they walked across the lawn again, the sun hung in the sky as the temperature was slowly climbing back to normal. A new day was before them and a new beginning for the couple locked in a loving embrace.

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**Acknowledgements:**

- Can't not thank Glenn Caron for these characters. Along with Bruce and Cybill for brining them to life for us to love.

- My Moonlighting friends - you know who you are ;)

- Thanks to freak snow storms because I know I reached pretty far for this, but I had to get David and Maddie in that office together. I always wanted to know what would happen if they were stuck somewhere together. The idea just intriqued me.


End file.
